Taco del Mar

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Taco del Mar is a Seattle, Washington based Fresh Mex restaurant chain that specializes in San Francisco burritos. Since opening in Seattle on June 8, 1992 by brothers James and John Schmidt, it has expanded into over 260 locations in the U.S. and Canada. It is known for its relaxed, seaside atmosphere.

The name "Taco del Mar," meaning "taco of the sea" in Spanish, refers to the chain's original specialty -- fish tacos. Like the larger Subway chain, the customer directs the preparation of their meal, requesting ingredients as it moves along an assembly line. A standard selection of San Francisco style Mexican ingredients is available, including wheat, flour, tomato, or spinach tortillas, and fish, beef, pork, or chicken. Recently Taco del Mar has extended reach into cities like Edmonton becoming a popular food chain all over North America.

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[edit] 2008 franchisee lawsuit

In 2007, Taco Del Mar announced that over 30 franchisees closed their restaurants.[citation needed] Taco Del Mar executives cited poor sales and bad locations as the cause of the closures. Previously Taco Del Mar closed restaurants throughout the Dallas and Boston markets due to poor financial performance.

However, a group of franchisees and Master Developers called The Truth About Taco Del Mar (citation needed)[1] charged that several Taco Del Mar executives took secret kickbacks from various suppliers that raised restaurant operating costs, hurting franchisee profitability and contributing to the store closures. There is no evidence of alleged kickbacks, further more Taco Del Mar founder James Schmidt said if there ever were kickbacks proven, the money would be returned to the Franchisee.[2]

There has not been one credible example of kickbacks ever brought to the attention of an attorney, posted here or any one else, that has come to my attention. If we were getting kickbacks and it was proven then franchisees would get money back, we disclose we do not get kickback so if we took them, then prove it and money will be returned - James Schmidt[3]

The group also claims that Taco Del Mar intentionally removed former franchises from its uniform offering circular (UFOC) to mislead potential investors into purchasing restaurants from the franchise. In December 2007, [4] reporter Julie Bennett conducted an investigation and found many franchisees outside of Washington and Oregon were losing money at Taco Del Mar[5].

Over 20 franchisees are currently preparing a class-action lawsuit to recover costs from Taco Del Mar Franchising Corp and Conrad & Barry Investments[6]. In November 2007, Taco Del Mar Franchising Corp President David Huether resigned [7]. Less than one month later, Neal Hollingsworth, Taco Del Mar's VP of Franchising Sales also resigned and left the Seattle/Tacoma area [8].

Failure rates of restaurants is commonly thought to be high. Recent studies have mitigated some of those assumptions, but still show three year failure rates of all restaurants to be about 61.4%, and that franchise restaurants fair slightly better than independently owned locations (http://www.allbusiness.com)

[edit] 2008 explosion in Vancouver

During the early morning hours of February 13, 2008, a Taco del Mar franchise in Vancouver, British Columbia was destroyed by a large explosion which damaged several nearby businesses. Police confirmed that the blast was caused by an arsonist who had placed an accelerant inside the restaurant, then set it on fire.[9] The motive for this act is currently not publicly known.[10]

Manjeet Nanda, one of the co-owners of the bombed restaurant, was later found dead of an apparent suicide. In an interview, she indicated that she originally intended to sell the franchise before it was destroyed.[11]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Opinions & Experiences
  2. ^ Response from Taco Del Mar founder James Schmidt
  3. ^ Response from Taco Del Mar founder James Schmidt
  4. ^ Franchise Times
  5. ^ Franchise Times story
  6. ^ www.bluemaumau.org
  7. ^ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology
  8. ^ http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/340334_taco20.html
  9. ^ Winnipeg Sun: Police confirm arson was the cause of explosion in Vancouver
  10. ^ CBC: Vancouver police ID suspect in taco shop arson, Owners still wondering why their restaurant was targetted
  11. ^ Bombed Taco Del Mar owner found dead, CTV, Feb. 17 2008

[edit] External links